Climb
by FanWriter02
Summary: Chain of Command What-If. [RTTE SEASON 6 SPOILERS] What if the ropes didn't miss? Krogan tosses a bola at Hiccup and Toothless, effectively capturing them both and wounding Hiccup in the process, leaving Snotlout to figure out a plan of rescue. Hiccstrid.


**Chapter 1.**

Toothless fired another blast at the flyers, distracting one, but another was ready to take their place. Hiccup gnawed on his lip nervously as he glanced in the other direction, the dark sky making it difficult to make out the dragons.

"Good job, Toothless." Hiccup murmured. They were completely surrounded now, where was Snotlout?

He looked heavenwards, the only place to go. That, or down, and going down would leave him trapped. So with a deep breath, Hiccup leaned forward and urged Toothless to climb the air.

Hopefully Snotlout would come by and run a distraction. If not, Hiccup would have to let Toothless physically hurt the dragons- and that would be his last resort.

"Come on, bud!" Hiccup urged loudly as he leaned further, biting his lip when their speed began to slow and they began to lose altitude. Hanging on tightly, he twisted to look behind him. Thank Thor, the flyers had fallen back- but only slightly. They'd have to lose them somehow in the clear sky, with no clouds for coverage.

"Come on, Toothless, c'mon!" Toothless warbled in return as his wings pounded the air, only to graze across something hard, and not fog. Hiccup looked up and cried out in startled alarm at the sight of a large red dragon, a familiar rider on his back.

"Hiccup, what a pleasant surprise." Krogan's smile was one of amusement, twinging Hiccup's frustration even further. Not only did the man have the nerve to be so unfair as three against one, but he had the gal to smile because of it.

Hiccup tugged Toothless back, mentally kicking himself for letting the other two flyers get the best of him, and coming to surround him hopelessly. He was trapped.

Where in the name of Odin _was Snotlout!?_

"It's alright, Toothless, try not to hurt them." Hiccup murmured quietly. His dragon shook his head, a deep growl rising in the back of his throat. He let loose a single harmless plasma shot, which the other dragon easily blocked it with a fire of his own.

Toothless took that moment to try and dart away, but the flyers were circling them in a wavy pattern, so that they were constantly moving, but keeping the ball shape. They weren't firing, it was as though they wanted them alive. Hiccup narrowed back, trying to keep himself as well protected as possible, because while they might need him alive, he doubted they'd try to not hurt them in the process.

A stream of a fire appeared from above them, narrowly missing one of the dragon's and Krogan's head. Everyone's attention looked skyward in time to see a small shape flitting in the air, followed by a much bigger shape of a Monstrous Nightmare. Hiccup audibly let out a sigh of relief, smiling up at his cousin.

Toothless cried and leaped for an opening the distracted Flyers had left, but just as Hiccup thought they'd made it through Krogan and his dragon swept right in front of their faces, bola's swinging in his hands as that smile never once wavered. Before he could give it a double thought, the bola's were flying through the air, right for them.

Toothless shrieked as the first one wrapped itself around his jaw, shaking his entire body. Hiccup could feel the weights of the bola's smash against them, and they must've been massively heavy, for even Toothless jerked with the impact. He screamed through his nostrils in a frantic panic, while Hiccup had very little time to do much else then cry out in alarm as the second one hit like a boulder.

The bola's, each ball twice the size of Hiccup's hands, were giant and were heavier than they looked. Three of them surrounded by a tangle of net, it was a painful combination.

The first ball collided with his stomach, effectively knocking all air from his lungs and shocking him silent. The second swung passed him, stretching the net across his chest and outstretched arms, crushing them to his body as it swung around and crashed against his shoulder, causing him to swing forward in outright pain.

The third- gods, Krogan was a monster.

He could've tried to aim for anything but Hiccup's head and torso? No, the ball launched right into his ribs, and in that moment, that instant, all sound around him faded alarmingly fast into a stunning silence. The only sound was his own breathing, the blood pounding in his ears, and the actual sound of his bones _crunching_ when that thirty pound bola smashed against his chest.

The pain was instant. Roaring through him with a pulse the power of a thunderstorm. Hiccup couldn't hear anything, couldn't see anything, couldn't _focus_ on anything but the steady drum beating inside his head. He could distantly recollect that he was falling, the air was whipping around him, but that was all.

It all rushed at him in such an exhausting swoop of air, it left him gasping for air. The pain was immediate, but the sounds were deafening. Toothless was screeching and there were distant shouts, but he- he was still falling with ninety pounds of lead dragging him faster and faster towards the earth below.

"Hiccup!" Snotlout- that was Snotlout's voice. Thank Thor he could recognize it, or else he would be worried.

Well, blast it all, he probably _should_ be worried, for he was spinning through the air at a neck breaking speed. Somehow that didn't seem as worrisome as other things. His chest for one.

He smashed against something, and it wasn't the earth. It was alive and warm, and softer than the ground, but the impact knocked the air from him again, and jostled his battered chest. He heaved, feeling a hot wave of nausea was over him. For one desperate moment he thought he was going to vomit.

One of the bola's rolled and smashed against his head, nearly causing him to fall. But arms snatched him tightly and tugged him off the dragon while forcing his hands together as lengths of rope were wrapped about them. Hiccup groaned when he realized it hadn't been Snotlout to rescue him, but a Flyer to capture him.

Wonderful.

He tried to wiggle out of harms way, to somehow escape. And if that meant falling off a dragon, so be it. He just knew he couldn't let them take him away, or else the Wingmaiden's would be trapped, and Snotlout would be left alone to defend them. And while he trusted him to do the job, he didn't want to risk it.

Not to mention Toothless-

 _Toothless._

He snapped his eyes open, ignoring a rising headache to lift his head and squint about, trying to find his dragon. Snotlout was gone, and they were moving quickly towards the Wingmaiden's base. A soft _"wroo"_ came from above him, and he looked skyward to see Toothless being carried in a net, the bola's wrapped around his snout keeping him from blasting his way to freedom.

"Bud..." Hiccup wheezed, hating the sound of his gravelly voice, hardly able to be heard even to himself. He sounded terrible.

His chest ached painfully, sending sharp pains racing up his chest into his neck, sending his head to pounding. The ache and the pain was growing unbearable, making him extremely woozy.

"Shut up." The man holding him jostled him, making him want to cry out in pain, yet he smartly kept his mouth shut. He was too tired to be snarky, it would probably be best for both he and Toothless if he just remained silent for the time being.

He let his eyes shut again, dispensing some of the pounding in his head, but the fogginess only grew. He gradually fell into unconsciousness.

...

Snotlout lifted his head with a moan, rubbing his skull with his hand painfully. Everything rushed back in a moment, as he looked over at Hookfang's limp shape lying in the grass. With a gasp he leapt to his feet and rushed to his dragon's side.

"Hooky!? Answer me, boy." The words of concern and panic came out demanding, per usual for him, and Hookfang could understand his concern even through his gruffness. He crooned quietly, but didn't move.

"Oh no, no no, that doesn't look good." Snotlout looked past the dragon's head at the wings, sprawled wide, but the right was bent at an awkward angle. Snotlout bit his lip and moved closer, gently running his hand along its shape.

Minden sat a few feet away, leaning against a tree with her head in her arms. Snotlout sighed and looked towards the village where the Flyers had disappeared, imagining how she was feeling at that moment.

But they didn't have time for pity parties- Hiccup and Toothless _needed_ their help. Not just them, but all the Wingmaidens, and the baby Razorwhips.

"Minden, we have to go after them."

"No, Snotlout." Minden shook her head as she slowly got to her feet, her head hanging and her voice low. "I cannot. You must go after them, you can, but... I must stay behind."

Snotlout ran a hand down his face with a frustrated groan. She didn't have to be so dramatic. "Listen, you might not like this, but I need your help. I can't just rescue them by myself, and if you're ever going to prove yourself to Atali-"

"I don't think I will."

Snotlout let his head fall back as he let out a silent plea to the gods to give him patience. This kid was killing him. "Listen, Minden, I know things haven't been going well, but you just gotta put that behind you and keep moving forward. There's not much else you can do."

She lifted her head, looking almost angry as she shook it with a clench of her fists. "I can't go on, Snotlout! I have failed you, I have failed Atali, I have failed my tribe!" She lifted her arms in defeat, reaching for the small dragon clinging to her back. Snotlout's mouth widened in disbelief as he watched her remove the Razorwhip.

"Wha-what are you doing?" Snotlout stuttered, yelping when the dragon suddenly zipped towards him, crashing into him and lifting him off the ground for a few seconds as he wrapped about him. He turned back to Minden, confused and frustrated further.

"I don't deserve the honor, I am a Wingmaiden no more." She turned and began stalking off, just like that, leaving him standing with a wounded dragon and a blind baby clinging to his back.

"Minden!" He called after her, grunting and walking in a circle out of frustration. How could she do this to him when she knew that Hiccup's very life could depend on the outcome of a rescue or not. He could only hope Astrid and the others had gotten their message- he needed the help.

While he was willing, taking on three Dragon Flyers solo was not a smart idea. He needed a good plan, before Hiccup was hurt further and before Krogan could do anymore damage to the Wingmaiden's home.

He turned to face poor Hookfang again, knowing that his dragon's health came first before any plan. He straightened his shoulders and began searching through the underbrush for a long branch substantial enough for the job, praying that somehow this entire stupid mess would straighten itself out on its own.

* * *

 **Hello everyone!**

 **Welcome to another what-if fic, I try to do one every new season, and here's another. And don't worry, Hiccup will be hurting far worse next chapter, you'll see. He gets jostled some more on the last leg of the journey. ;) I have more fics from season 6 coming, so stay tuned!**

 **This season was AMAZING. I really loved it, and I truly don't have any episodes I "hate" which is hard for me to come by! I liked them all, but Darkest Night is one of my favorites. It was just beautiful.**

 **Leave a review if you have time, and I'll see you guys in the next update! Toodles! :D**

 **-Kat**


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